


The A-Team

by greatappreciations



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers 1.5, Multi, fuck it i can't tag everything, just think of any two characters and there you go there is a pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greatappreciations/pseuds/greatappreciations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which everything goes wrong and they all just really need a break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: A Bad Day For Maria Hill

Maria Hill was really _done_ with all of this SHIELD drama. First Fury had ‘died’ and gone into hiding. Then the whole HYDRA thing happened and it turned out that Agent Ward was actually a Grade A asshat. She’d tried working for Stark Industries and that was all fine but _no_ , Fury had made her return here for a few weeks, to help Coulson. _And_ , she had a small mountain of paperwork on her new desk, all waiting to be sorted. It wasn’t even a nice desk- just a cheap one bought for her temporary office. A horrible colour.

It had been a bad few weeks.

Today, especially, was awful. The employees were freaking out about HYDRA, Agent Morrigan had fled just this morning and Starbucks had run out of cookies. It had just gone midnight and she was _still_ working.

Then, of course, the alarms began to go off.

‘What is it now?’ she muttered angrily. ‘This better not be a -’

She heard a scream from down the hall. _Damn._ This actually wasn’t a drill. As quickly as they had started, the alarms switched off, leaving an eerie silence. Agent Hill decided to follow her SHIELD training as best she could. She removed her gun from its holster and took the safety off. It clicked; it was far too loud in this quiet corridor.

She could hear footsteps, but nothing too near to her. For now, she was safe. Creeping down the corridor, she tried her radio.

‘Anyone there?’ she whispered, ‘I repeat, anyone the-’

She stopped as her earpiece crackled like thunder and shorted out. She pulled it out angrily and dropped it to the floor. Useless damn technology. She’d have to rely on her own wits now. That wasn’t a problem. She was usually fine.

Carefully, she checked round the corner. No movement, but plenty of bodies. She grimaced at the blood soaking the carpet. It hadn’t been a nice carpet before, but now it made her feel sick. She had known all these people. They were good people. The sort of agents who brought you coffee and chatted about top-secret government plans and occasionally killed spies. Good people.

There were no traces of the assailants (if you discounted the corpses). Maria wondered where they’d gone and what they’d hoped to accomplish. Brutally killed a few Level 4 Agents, but it didn’t look like anything was stolen or hacked. That’s what most people came for. They hadn’t even hurt her, the most important agent in the building. No points for planning. Full marks for murder.

She was just contemplating who to call first when she heard shouts from behind her. She turned quickly, but not quickly enough; before she could shoot, something hit her shoulder.

She fell back against the wall, breathing heavily. That wasn’t a bullet- not painful enough. She tried to shoot, but her arm wouldn’t move. It didn’t really hurt. In fact, she felt quite calm and more relaxed than she’d been in a while and even more tired than usual and it was quite pleasant really and she collapsed to the floor and that didn't really hurt either…

As she drifted off to sleep, Agent Maria Hill realised just how much trouble she was in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this is just the prologue of a much longer fic. people will do stuff. there will be snark. i wrote a lot over the summer so i can update fairly regularly maybe twice a week ? thanks to leezekiel for betaing !  
> comments, kudos, anything tbh is appreciated  
> i own nothing, etc  
> and thanks :)


	2. An Early Start For Natasha Romanoff

Natasha woke to a knocking on the door. Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed and opened it.

‘Hey Nat,’ Steve walked into the room and handed her a coffee, ‘There’s been a problem at SHIELD. We need you to come in.’

Natasha checked her watch. ‘Dude, it’s 5am,’ she stated. ‘There’ salways a problem at SHIELD. Can’t it wait?’

‘Not really. Do you know where Clint is? He’s not at his apartment.’

‘Yeah, I can get him. Where do we meet?’

‘I’m heading over to Stark Tower right now. Join us there as soon as possible.’

‘Us? Who else will be there?’

Steve smiled a little. ‘The old gang. We’re needed again.’

Natasha yawned and rubbed her eyes. ‘Wow. What has SHIELD managed to do this time?’

‘We’ll brief you there. Go get dressed. And tell Clint to come out of your room. I’m 95, not oblivious.’

‘He’s staying in the spare room, actually.’

‘Sure he is. Well, see you in a bit!’ Steve grinned before Nat shut the door on him.

‘Clint, we gotta go,’ Natasha yelled. Clint appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, tired, but already dressed.

‘He didn’t get me a Starbucks,’ he muttered.

‘He didn’t know you were here.’

‘He does now. You gonna get ready?’

‘Yeah, give me a minute.’

They hailed a cab and soon enough, they were in the state-of-the-art elevator of Tony’s pride and joy. Some peppy pop music was playing in the background. Possibly Pepper’s influence. He’d redesigned the place after last time and it seemed more welcoming and soft than before- again, probably Pepper.

They got out at the top floor, the main living room, where Tony, Bruce and Steve were already waiting. The science bros were looking at some blueprints whilst Steve stirred his coffee lazily.

‘So, how bad is it this time?’ Natasha asked, strolling into the room and dumping her bag on the ground.

Tony gestured to the TV screen, which played a news report. _Breaking News_ flashed across the screen as a stressed reporter interviewed a tired looking agent with a SHIELD badge. ‘Pretty fucking bad, as things go.’

‘Well, that’s one way to put it,’ Bruce turned the TV off. ‘About midnight, underground SHIELD bases all over were attacked. Nearly a hundred agents killed. A few taken. Some civilian casualties, too.’

‘Crap,’ Clint murmured as he crossed the room to gaze out of the window. ‘HYDRA, again?’

‘I don’t think so. But we got a video. Addressed to ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’. Emailed to my damn private account,’ Tony looked extremely pissed about this personal security breach. ‘We’re working on tracing it. When everyone is here, we can have a special private screening.’

‘Speaking of, where the hell is Thor?’

‘The guy does have the whole of Asgard to rule. He’ll be here in a bit.’

‘How do you even contact him?’

‘Incredibly complex scient-’

‘We texted him. Asgard has 4G now.’

Tony grumbled something about stupid grandpas not understanding his technology, but Steve ignored it. Natasha jumped onto the sofa and kicked her shoes off. ‘So, if we’re waiting, how are you all doing? Bruce, I haven’t seen you in ages. How are things?’

‘Pretty good. Science is going well. Got some new research grants. Helped Phil out a bit. Still not allowed to work with radioactive materials though. Also, I haven’t turned into a giant green rage monster in a while.’

‘Awesome. Tony, how’s life without the Iron Man suits? Is Pepper ok?’

‘Pepper is amazing and quite possibly listening to our conversation. Security cameras everywhere here. A bit unnecessary really. These days, I got less people trying to kill me. That’s fun. You? ’

Natasha nodded. ‘Peace is nice. I’ve been working out my new covers. And helping Coulson build it all back up. It was going pretty well, until now.’

‘Until now,’ Steve agreed. ‘What about you, Clint? Where’ve you been?’

‘Around and about,’ Clint stated simply.

‘Are you serious? People _died._ We could have used a hand. _’_

‘Hey I had stuff to do. I-’

Clint was interrupted mid-rant by a flash of lightening and a clap of thunder. Tony jumped as Thor appeared next to him.

‘Greetings, friends,’ the Asgardian smiled. ‘You require help?’

‘Sure do. Play the damn video,’ Natasha sat up, ready and waiting. The happy catching up could continue later; apparently, there were more important matters at hand.

Words scrolled across the screen and stood out clearly, white on black. They stood in silence, their eyes flickering across the screen as they read.

 

_Good morning, **Avengers**. You won’t be around much longer. So enjoy that title and the comradery while you can. I’ll see you soon, no doubt. Also, you may want to call your friends. It would be a shame if something, I don’t know, happened to them. I'm not saying I did something to them- just a thought. Well I might have. You'll know soon enough. Anyway, see you around :D_ _  
_

‘Wow,’ Clint said, punctuating the silence. ‘That’s very dramatic.’

‘What the hell sort of threatening video was that?' Natasha glared. It was... It was damned unprofessional, that's what it was.

'Who puts fucking smiley faces on threats like that?' Tony shook his head. 'What a lame villain. Seriously. I hate fucking smileys.’

‘Emoticons. They’re called emoticons.’

‘I call them emojis.’

‘No, they’re smileys.’

‘Emoticons. At least it was a good font. A nice sans serif. A sort of _I will kill you but hey, nice typography_ statement. A lot of effort put in there.’

‘Clint, this isn’t a time for messing around.’

‘It does seem an odd thing to do though,’ Bruce pointed out. ‘A written message.’

‘Yes. _That_ was the oddest thing about the message,’ Natasha sighed. ‘Any word from Fury? We could use him right now.’

‘Nothing. He’s gone completely off radar.’

‘Bastard.’

‘Give him a break. He “died”. What about other agents. Coulson? Hill?’

‘Coulson has issues of his own. He’s been hiding out and sorting SHIELD out. And they say Maria was taken hostage during the SHIELD raids. No one is really sure of anything right now.’

‘Shit,’ Clint muttered. ‘So, what now?’

‘Wait for the magic video tracing software to work. Have a big happy reunion. Want a drink? We had this neat new bar installed,’ Tony grinned proudly, ‘Any cocktail. _Any_.’

‘Isn’t it a bit early for alcohol?’ Steve asked warily.

‘SHIELD has been attacked. People are missing. People are dead,’ Tony stated. ‘There’s never been a better time for a drink.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is set in a magical world where aos is all fine and nothing relevant happens with them and like they have some shit sorted out because aos is still on right not and i can only edit so much. continuity is a flawed concept anyway am i right.  
> thanks to lee, i own zilch, you get the idea, generally not very original writing  
> pls comment or something idc really it's nice to know that i am not just alone here on the internet with just my words and vague ideas does anyone read this bit really? i've never actually considered this but how weird would it be if i was just talking to myself like whoa  
> oh no wait i make my friends read this it's cool  
> hi friends  
> ta xx


	3. Starbucks, Sushi And SHIELD Secrets

A short time and a few drinks later, one of the computers beeped. An error message flashed on screen.

'That doesn't look good,' Steve observed.

‘Well, you're not wrong. It’s encrypted with loads of firewalls. We’re not getting to a location any time soon.’

‘You mean your technology can’t do it?’

‘It can do it. It will just take a bit longer.’

‘How much longer?’

‘I don’t know. A day, maybe two.’

‘You’re kidding. We can’t just wait all that time. What about all the missing people.’

‘Well, I can’t make it go faster. I’m good, but not that good. Bruce, back me up here.’

Bruce shuffled nervously, ‘It’s doing its best. You guys got any friends or family you want to call? It all seems fairly legit.’

They all looked at each other. No one spoke.

‘Wow. We’re really not that popular.’

‘Hey, I spoke to Sam earlier on.’ Steve said defensively. ‘He’s fine.’

‘And I know Pepper is here,’ Tony added.

‘Thor, what about your _special friend_?’

He held up an old phone proudly. ‘She texted me the second I arrived. I think we will meet up for a meal later on.’

‘Is there any way we can get hold of Fury?’ Clint asked. ‘Or at least a SHIELD agent or two?’

‘Steve, you could try contacting your neighbour. Tony, Bruce, hack the SHIELD network- we need more data. Thor, check the building perimeter. We can’t deal with an attack right now. And Clint,’ Natasha smiled. ‘Get your arrows ready.’

They followed her orders without question. At this point, there was little else they could do.

Steve dialled Agent 13’s number. He wasn’t entirely sure how it was saved on his phone; he thought it best not to question it.

She answered after a few rings. ‘Hey Steve.’

‘Sharon, are you ok?’

‘I’m fine. Haven’t heard from anyone since yesterday, though. What’s going on?’

Steve explained the situation. 13 was quiet for a moment, taking all the information in. Finally, she spoke. ‘Where are you now?’

‘Stark Tower. Get over here. Stay safe.’

When he hung up, Steve walked over to join Tony and Bruce.

‘What are you guys doing?’

‘Hacking competition. Phil's team took it all offline,’ Tony said, not looking up from his screen, furiously typing. 

‘I’m winning,’ Bruce added.            

‘Shut up.’

Bruce’s laptop lit up a bright blue, and the SHIELD logo flashed on screen. ‘Done!’

‘Damnit. What level access did you get?’

‘9. Should be enough.’

‘Check the database for Fury and Coulson. Try tracing the video signal via their database. Then contact any other high level agents,’ Tony said, ‘Also, check my file. I wanna see what they say about me.'

‘Later. We should concentrate now.’

‘Good plan, Bruce,’ Natasha strolled into the room, accompanied my Sharon. ‘So far, no one’s trying to kill us. Considerate enemies giving us time to regroup. That’s nice. A bit foolish on their part. Coulson called.’

‘Seriously? I just hacked SHIELD to trace people and they just phone you up?’

‘Well, _I_ hacked it. You lost. What did Phil say?’

‘The usual. He’s good. The team are fine. Kind of. Only one traitor and one casualty.'

‘Impressive. Has he heard from Fury?’

‘Not recently. Coulson’s been calling the shots for a while now. He did confirm that Agent Hill was taken. He’s a bit panicked right now, actually. I told him about the video. He just told me to call him with any news.’

‘We’re fucked.’

‘Tony, I don’t think-‘

‘No. We are. SHIELD are running around with no clue what to do, we’re not exactly calm and collected ourselves, Coulson is losing it, it’s 7 fucking am and a fucking villain put fucking smiley faces on a fucking threatening video.’

13 stepped forward and put her hand on Tony’s shoulder. ‘Coffee?’

Tony sagged slightly. ‘Please.’

A Starbucks trip later, they all gathered back in the lounge.

‘Bad news guys,’ Bruce said. ‘We can’t trace that video with our limited technology. It’s weird. The technology is similar to SHIELD’s. But upgraded.’

‘Maybe they can trace it,’ Steve suggested.

‘Maybe. But we’re scattered right now. No one knows where anyone is.’

‘Coulson’s team has some good people,’ 13 pointed out. ‘If we get him to sort it out, we can use their help. Trace the video, stop the adversaries, restore order and go for a pizza. Done.’

‘Good plan. Simple. I’m sure it will all work perfectly,’ Clint deadpanned.

‘Ever the optimist,’ Natasha grinned at him.

‘Why do you actually require my assistance?’ Thor asked. ‘Asgard does need me.’

‘It’s your problem too. You’re part of this team for the long run, like it or not.’

What do we do now?’

‘Call Coulson. Wait. Anyone want lunch? There’s a nice sushi place up the road.’

‘Someone should stay here. Just in case.’

‘I will,’ Steve and Clint spoke at the same time. They looked at each other, not exactly surprised; just slightly wary.

‘Cool. See you guys in a bit.’

‘Nat, get me those cucumber maki things.’

‘Sure thing. Have fun boys.’

Once they were gone, Clint returned to sitting on the table, swinging his legs like a 4 year old girl.

‘I’m sorry about earlier,’ Steve sat on the table next to Clint. He wondered why he didn’t just sit on the chairs like a normal person, but he thought it best not to question it.

‘Earlier?’

‘I snapped at you. It was wrong. It’s been a rough few months.’

‘You’re telling me,’ Clint smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Steve recalled all the events before New York, and suddenly felt even worse.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘So, how’ve you been doing?’

‘Good, you know. An alien God messed with my head. I had to save the world. A couple of times. And now SHIELD is being systematically destroyed by evil old Nazis,’ Clint had stood up at some point and was pacing up and down. Steve rested his hand on his shoulder.

‘We’re a team. You don’t have to hide it all.’

‘Don’t I?’

‘Talk to me. Heck, talk to Natasha. I know you stay with her enough.’

‘We are _not_ together. I just needed a place to stay. SHIELD wasn’t just my job. It was my home.’

Steve could see Clint getting increasingly uncomfortable. He decided to let it go- for now.

‘How’ve you been, then?’ Clint grabbed the opportunity to change the subject. ‘Nat told me about The- Nat told me about Bucky.’

Steve’s throat tightened. ‘I’ve been searching everywhere. He’s good at staying hidden.’

‘Well, when all this is over, I’ll help you with it.’

‘Really? You sure?’

‘Yeah. Certain. We brainwashed assassins look out for each other, you know.’

Steve chuckled at that. Clint was an odd person. But a good friend.

‘Maybe it’s all a false alarm. SHIELD tend to get extremely pissy. Maybe-‘

A computer beeped and interrupted him.

‘What is it?’ Steve asked as Clint rushed to check it. ‘A location?’

Clint looked up and shook his head grimly. ‘An email.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoooo  
> thanks to lee  
> i own fuck all  
> pls review/kudos it makes me smile and i look cute when i smile  
> are you excited for the next aos ep? i am sooo pumped oh my gosh hmu at wingedb.tumblr.com  
> ta x


	4. Old Friends Lost And New Friends Found

Steve phoned the others and soon enough, they were all sitting and watching the computer screen again. Tony hit play.

 It started off like the other video: the same white text on black background. _Hey there_ it read. _How are we all? Good? Good. I’m fine, thanks. Enough of the small talk. You know, the other day, I was reading this book, right- a superhero comic. And it got me thinking. Villains always kidnap people the heroes are close to. Sure, they tend to mess up near the end. But I’m pretty confident I won’t. Anyway, back to the whole kidnapping thing. It wasn’t that hard to hack your files and find your pressure points. Except you, Bruce. You’re kind of a loner. Sorry about that. Whatever. You might wanna get started on tracking this video. You know, if you want. Your call. You are the A-Team, after all._

The screen changed suddenly, and a picture showed up. A woman in a cell. She held a card displaying the date- sure enough, it was today. The woman was battered and bruised, and it took a while for them to recognise her.

‘Agent Hill. Shit.’

After a couple of seconds, the image changed.

‘Who’s that?’

Thor grimaced. ‘Darcy. A great friend of mine.’

More SHIELD agents were shown, all locked up; all looking extremely pissed off. They vaguely recognised some of them, but most appeared very young and junior.

‘Fuck,’ Tony said, as the image changed once again, this time displaying James Rhodes. ‘We are hunting down this bastard and we are shoving a-’ he trailed off as a final image flickered on screen.

The image was grainy and the man was grimy and beaten, but Steve would’ve recognised him anywhere. And the metal arm was a giveaway.

Bucky.

‘No,’ Steve whispered.

The pictures stopped and the writing resumed.

_So, you might want to head on down here and save these people. Take your time. But know that I will kill them in 168 hours. You do the math. See you soon :D_

‘I’ll, er, check the video to trace it.’ Bruce stammered. ‘Are you- Do you want-?’

‘I’m fine,’ Steve said. The others didn’t look convinced.

‘We’ll find them. Don’t worry.’

‘I’m fine,’ Steve repeated. ‘How did that damn son of a bitch find him before I did? For fuck’s sake. He’s been through hell and now _this_ ,’ Steve’s voice cracked as he stood up and turned away. He kicked the desk hard, and the monitor shook, but the computer stayed there, still displaying the haunting message on screen.

‘We should call Coulson again,’ Natasha said, once again taking charge and breaking the silence. ‘Report what’s happened, and all of the hostages.’

‘I counted 17 in total,’ 13 said. She had been shaken by the video, but was still a professional SHIELD agent. ‘A couple of them were good friends of mine, I could probably identify the rest.’

‘You do that. Clint, call Phil. Try Fury too. Steve, do you want to…’ Natasha gestured to the hall. Steve nodded and left the room, followed by her. He stood there in silence, his face blank, but Natasha could see through him easily.

‘How you feeling?’

‘Fine,’ he nodded, smiling unconvincingly. ‘Just fine. Look, can we get back in there and-‘

‘I know it sucks. It sucks ass. But you have to keep a clear head. Don’t let it affect your judgement. We will get him back.’

‘ _Affect my judgement?_ Nat, I can handle it. I did before.’

‘You nearly died before. Just- Just don’t.’

They returned to the room in silence. Clint put down the phone and smiled at them.

‘Phil’s on his way. He’s decided the situation is serious enough to merit his time,’ Clint jumped back to his perch on the sofa armrest. ‘So, Steve… At least you know where he is.’

‘Shouldn’t you be doing something? Something useful, maybe?’

‘Hey, lightening the mood is useful. And you’re hardly helpi-’

‘Clint,’ Natasha warned, but she was too late, and Steve had left the room.

‘Good job,’ she sighed. ‘Someone go after him.’

‘I’ll go,’ Thor said.

‘Really?’ Natasha asked, surprised. Thor didn’t usually talk to people much.

‘Yes. I know what it’s like to lose a loved one.’

‘Don’t we all,’ Natasha sighed. ‘Clint, go help Bruce. Maybe be a _bit_ more sensitive.’

Tony and Bruce laughed in their tech corner as Clint trudged to them and their computers.

‘Man, Natasha’s got you whipped,’ Tony grinned.

‘What was that you were saying?’ asked a voice from behind them. Tony jumped, nearly spilling his coffee. _Damn_ , that girl was sneaky.

 

Meanwhile, Thor had found Steve down on one of the balconies. The view of the city was impressive, if marred slightly by the skyscrapers. But the sky was still the same, and it was beautiful. He sat down on the bench and looked out at New York.

‘How are you, friend?’

Steve looked up. ‘Oh. It’s you,’ he sighed, and rubbed his eyes. ‘I’m just… tired.’

‘Well, you should get some rest. You will need it.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

‘We will find him. I know how you feel, believe me. But do not blame yourself.’

Steve scoffed, but Thor stood up and offered his hand to him. Reluctantly, Steve took it and walked over to the edge, gazing down at the city.

‘Thanks.’

‘Not a problem. Will you be coming in?’

‘In a bit.’

‘I will see you then. Do not do anything stupid while I am gone.’

Steve stiffened at those words, words he had heard a long, _long_ time ago, far from here. But Thor didn't notice and was already gone. Steve leaned on the railings, head in his hands, contemplating in the lonely silence.

 

When Thor returned, he found the others were discussing the video.

‘Were all those pictures real then?’

‘The date was right. And they were moving. Plus, we know some of those people are actually missing.’

‘I called Rhodey. To check. He- He didn’t answer,’ Tony tapped his fingers on the desk, preoccupied by his missing friend. His oldest friend. He wasn’t laughing any more.

‘So we’re waiting on Coulson and his pack of nerds,’ Bruce added.

‘You said the technology was like SHIELD’s?’ Clint asked, sitting at one of the computers next to The Science Bros.

‘Pretty similar, so they should be able to help us.’

‘But what if it’s not just like SHIELD? What if it is SHIELD?’

‘You think the mass HYDRA invasion or-?’

‘No. I don’t think so. But it is chaotic right now. If any agent wanted to, now would be the perfect time to strike.’

‘So, shall we check the database? See if anyone went AWOL?’

‘Might as well,’ Clint tapped a few buttons and his screen turned blue with the SHIELD logo.

‘Wait, how did you do that?’ Tony asked, surprised. He and Bruce were the computer-savvy ones; not Clint.

‘I’ve been hacking SHIELD since I was 8.’

‘Only 8?’ asked Natasha, smiling. ‘I’m shocked, Barton. I myself was hacking the government from the age of 7.’

‘You’re just jealous of my mad tech skills.’

‘Guys, stop flirting,’ Bruce chided. ‘Run the analysis.’

‘Shut up, Banner. I’m doing it.’

Their bickering was interrupted when Steve opened the door. If his eyes were wet, no one mentioned it.

‘A car drew up outside,’ he said gravely. ‘I think Phil is here.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i only know how to end chapters on plot twists i blame tv for this  
> usual stuff here  
> aos is killing my soul rn literally my life has been taken over so blame simmons for my slow updates  
> ta for reading this much commenting/kudosing is appreciated greatly (haha see what i did there because my username ahaha)  
> byee x


	5. Scientists Are Happy And Steve Is Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably a good time to mention that this was written before agents of shield season 2 premiered, so i guess it's a slight au.

Coulson walked in with Pepper, wearing his usual business suit and sunglasses and chatting amicably- probably about that cellist of his. Tony had never asked about them, but he was curious, despite himself. One day, he'd find out.

‘So you are alive,’ Tony noted. ‘Or you’re gonna start eating our brains.’

‘I’m alive. Don’t worry, I checked. Twice.’

‘Impressive. I thought Loki had skewered yo-‘

‘Tony, be nice,’ Pepper warned.

‘I’m exceedingly nice. It’s good to see you, Phil.’

‘I am glad you are not dead, Son of Coul.’

‘Thank you. It’s nice to see you all. Maybe one day we’ll meet when the world isn’t in danger. Now, we can talk about me for hours- but there are probably more important things at the moment.’

‘Probably.’

‘Agent 13 sent me the video. She said something about your technology being awful?’

‘Shut up. It’s not my problem that this person wasn’t considerate enough to leave me a way in.’

‘Luckily, my team are rather cleverer than you,’ Phil said, definitely _not_ gloating.

‘Can they build an awesome robot suit whilst being held hostage by extremely pissed off terrorists?’

‘Quite possibly. Now, Fitzsimmons are set up about an hour away, out in the country. You should probably all come. This building is too public to be secure.’

‘The giant Avengers logo does make it easier to find,’ Pepper muttered.

‘You save the world,’ Tony retorted. ‘Then you get to decide on the logo.’

‘I did save the world. I kicked that guy’s ass. You just stood there and looked pretty.’

Natasha grinned. ‘Now _that’s_ a story I’d like to hear.’

‘Agent Coulson, didn’t you say we had somewhere to be?’ Tony quickly interrupted.

‘Yes. Story time later. We have a couple of SHIELD cars parked out front. You all ready?’

The team looked at each other uncertainly. None of them knew if they were actually ready for any of what was to come. Nevertheless, they got into the darkened cars with tinted windows and spent the drive in silence, gazing out at the city.

 

Thor had heard a lot about Coulson’s team from Lady Sif. She had told him all about the talented hacker girl, the fierce woman who could kill anyone, the extremely intelligent young lady, the scatty Scottish genius and the grim (yet handsome) American man.

So he greeted them as friends, glad to have their assistance. He thought it best not to mention the missing American, or the fact that the other boy was clearly not all there. After all, like him, they were warriors; wars had their casualties.

Despite his earlier distrust, Tony seemed pretty comfortable with the young British pair. Soon he and Bruce had engaged them in conversation- the Scottish lad may not have been himself, but the girl helped him a lot. 

Thor vaguely recognised some of the things they were talking about. Sure, he wasn’t the most tech-savvy God, but all the things they discussed seemed rather primitive. He smiled at their chatter, reminded of how much he liked humans.

‘You have the hard drive?’ asked Skye.

‘Naturally. I’m surprised you can’t do it wirelessly but-‘

‘Oh, we could,’ Simmons said. ‘We could do that in our sleep. But this file could be corrupt. If it screws up our systems, we’re in trouble.’

‘Safer this way,’ agreed Fitz. He lowered his voice slightly, ‘Is he ok over there?’ he asked, looking at Steve, sat in the corner quietly.

‘Heartbreak, probably. The same reason we need your help. We all have friends in there.’

‘So you admit you need us?’ Skye grinned. ‘The great Tony Stark, needing-‘

‘Yes ok, thank you. Less of the snark, please.’

‘Yeah, respect your elders.’ Fitzsimmons high-fived at that and Tony rolled his eyes. Kids these days.

Steve decided to leave the children to their bickering and snuck past a couple of guards, to sit outside. It was quiet here- they were far enough away from the city to avoid people or cars. The only noises were the chirping birds and the occasional passing train. He rarely experience quiet like this, not even when he was a kid, all those years ago. New York was just as noisy back then, especially the rough area he grew up in.

It wasn’t actually that late in the day, but it felt like years since this morning, when he’d first got the call from Bruce. He’d known it would be bad; it always was. But this… This was worse. This was too _personal._

He felt selfish for everything. He hadn’t helped at all, heck, he hadn’t even thought about any of the other hostages. But damn it, this was Bucky. He’d promised to always be there and he, the great Captain America, had failed. So what, he could jump high and run fast. He was still human and right now, he was still useless.

Times like these, he wished he could get drunk again. Anything would help, anything to stop feeling. But he couldn’t and anyway, he supposed, that wouldn’t help Bucky or the others. It wouldn’t help him. Only finding them all would.

Anyway, he was the great Captain America. Drowning his sorrows wasn’t how he coped. Actually doing stuff would help more. Saving the world, the usual sort of thing. So, as the sun began to set, he headed back inside, ready and with a new purpose.

They were still all bickering in the lab, but it was light-hearted. Even Agent May was talking, albeit about guns with Agent 13. Steve managed to get chatting pretty quickly with the hacker, Skye, who was extremely sweet, if somewhat distracted by Natasha. Steve wondered what Nat had done this time. Honestly, professional missions were no time for flirting.  Clint was looking pretty pissed off.

Around 9pm, a computer beeped and an automated voice read out ‘ANALYSIS COMPLETE. FILE DECRYPTED. COORDINATES FOUND.’

‘Perfect,’ Fitz grinned, looking over the list of numbers. ‘OX9, 5RT.’

‘That’s Oxford. In England,’ Simmons said, surprised. ‘My mum lives near there.’

‘Well,’ said Tony. ‘You might want to tell her to take an extended holiday.’

‘Can you get a plane ready?’

‘Sure. We leave tomorrow. Early.’

Natasha nearly groaned at the prospect of another early start, but decided to suck it up. This was a mission now. ‘Will you guys come?’ she asked, looking at Coulson’s team.

‘Sure,’ Fitzsimmons said together.

‘Fitz, you should really rest, the doctors said-‘

‘I’m fine. I can help.’

Skye smiled, ‘I don’t see why not.’

Agent May confirmed with a nod.

‘Well, I guess we’re all a team now,’ Coulson said. ‘I’ll see you all tomorrow.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much to say here tbh uhh  
> thanks to leezekiel  
> thanks to anyone still actually reading this and thank you to that commenter last chapter it made my day :3  
> next chapter soon hopefully !


	6. Coffee And Questions

 Unless the world was literally about to blow up, Clint spent most of his time before 9 am in a slightly confused haze. Thankfully, someone made him a coffee. He didn’t know who. It just sort of appeared, and he drank it. It was pretty decent coffee, and made him feel at least a little more awake.

‘Any more news?’ he asked, stifling a yawn. In his defence, most of the others seemed completely exhausted. Only Thor and Agent May appeared truly awake.

‘Death toll confirmed as 28. 56 are injured, 9 grievously so. And there are 17 missing agents.’

Clint let out a low whistle. ‘Someone’s done their research here. It’s not that easy to jump SHIELD.’

‘Unless it’s HYDRA,’ Tony pointed out.

‘Really? I don’t think ancient evil science Nazis use smiley faces.’

‘Well, I don’t know what else it could be.’

‘An inside job.’

‘No shit,’ said Agent 13. ‘HYDRA was an inside job.’

‘You know what I mean. A rogue agent, working alone or for another enemy. SHIELD has plenty of adversaries to pick from.’

‘It comes with the territory, I’m afraid.’

‘Did you check the database for missing agents before yesterday?’ Bruce asked.

Tony glared at him. ‘I thought we were keeping that secret.’

‘No point. We’re working together here. A team. Besides, Phil could help. We wouldn’t have to hack it anymore.’

They looked to Phil, who was sipping coffee, his sunglasses obscuring his reaction. ‘You think it will help?’ he asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘Go ahead. _Please_ don’t mess around too much. Last time you changed every image on the server to Nicolas Cage. It took ages to sort that out.’

‘My bad. We’ll try to resist the temptation.’

‘You better,’ Phil sighed, handing Bruce his SHIELD ID card.

‘How long is this flight?’ Clint asked.

Coulson checked his watch. ‘Should be about 6 more hours.’

'Plenty of time.'

Clint groaned and put his sunglasses on to block out the light. Maybe he could grab a few hours rest before they landed. Being exhausted would not help him in this battle. And, Clint thought, he could use all the help he got.

 

They landed in a small airstrip just outside Reading. It was only just past midday, yet the English weather made everything seem somewhat gloomier. The sky was full of clouds, threatening rain.

It was a great sight: the Avengers and some SHIELD agents boarding a little train through the countryside. They got quite a few odd looks from old women. No one actually recognised them though, which was surprising; they were a pretty memorable group.

Phil had called in a few favours and managed to rent a house for a couple of days. A makeshift base. It was the most English thing any of them had ever seen. The carpets and curtains were matching and flowery, there were two different china tea sets and the windows framed the picturesque rolling hills perfectly, despite the cloudy skies.

‘Do we have a plan?’ Bruce asked.

‘Find the exact location. In. Out,’ Coulson stated. He always preferred to keep things simple. ‘Did you find any rogue agent names?’

‘Tons. Funnily enough, an organisation gets infiltrated by Nazis, you lose a few agents. Over 50 in the last few months.’

‘One name stuck out though,’ Bruce continued. ‘She left the morning of the attacks. The resignation was filed by Agent Hill herself. Her name is Jean Morrigan. Only Level 3, but showed promise. Worked as a hacker in the Maine branch, _but_ , originally came from England.’

‘So that’s our perp. It does explain the SHIELD-like video encryptions.’

‘And the operational base. Speaking of, did you guys get the exact place?’

‘The area is pretty wide, but the most likely place is Chastleton Manor,’ Simmons stated. ‘18th century massive stately home, recently bought by an outsider.'

‘Got in the local news a few months back. There were planning permission arguments. The official story is a massive gym. But I reckon something _weird_ is being built down there. Something dangerous.’

‘Perfect. How far is it?’

‘20 minutes or so. You don’t have to worry about that.'

‘And what do we do when we get there? We're a good team, but we're not _that_ good.’

‘Don't worry, we brought plenty of weapons for you,’ Skye opened her purse and withdrew a small rifle, handing it to Tony. ‘Plus loads of cool gadgety spy stuff. You have a God, a super-soldier, a few guys, an agent or two and a s _uper cute_ assassin. You got this.’

Natasha smiled. ‘You’re not wrong there. So, are you all coming in with us?’

‘Well, we’ll be outside,’ Simmons said.

‘Monitoring the situation,’ Fitz continued.

‘Reducing collateral damage,’ Simmons finished.

‘We’ll need an actual plan,’ Agent 13 said. ‘I say we split into two teams. Half of us go find Ms. Morrigan. The others free the hostages.’

‘We can scan the building and help you guys out. We bought the earpieces, right?’

‘Yep.’

Coulson nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll take Skye, Thor, Steve and Clint to find ‘Morrigan’ or whoever it is. 13, you take Agent May, Natasha, Tony and Bruce. Find everyone. Get them out as fast as possible. Come back for us if you can No unnecessary risks. You call us if you need to.’

‘We going now?’

‘We shouldn’t waste time. We’re a step ahead of her. Let’s keep it that way.’

Bruce began sorting through the weapons May had stashed in her bag. He wanted to be well prepared; he especially didn’t want to rely on the other guy. It wasn’t that sort of situation. He’d never encountered this sort of situation, to be honest. He was more used to science. And occasionally, alien killing. This SHIELD spy stuff was way out of his comfort zone.

Clint and Natasha, on the other hand, were in their element. They’d done this plenty of times, albeit never with such a large, strong team. They seemed to get along pretty well with the agents. Tony did too, but Bruce knew he wasn’t quite right. Rhodey was his oldest friend. He was good at hiding it, but Bruce could see through that: Tony really was worried.

Steve was awful at hiding everything. He just wore his heart on his sleeve. Bruce didn’t blame him though; he knew how it was to someone. He just hoped it wouldn’t affect him too much. They needed him for this mission.

Thor was his usual Godly self. Bruce had sat with him on the plane, and actually talked. He was really a pretty decent guy. Plus, Asgardian technology was way more developed than Earth’s. He’d have to go there one day, and take a few things back with him. You know, for science.

Speaking of science, Tony was approaching him. Bruce finished loading his gun and smiled at him. God knows, they could all use a smile.

‘Ready?’

‘Ready.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /usual stuff/  
> i have no excuses for slow updates oh well (comments and kudos speed me up just sayin)  
> yo guys aos is so good rn i am cr ying weekly  
> and hey  
> thanks


	7. A:  Picking Locks And Dodging Shots

They all changed into the old SHIELD uniforms Phil had found. Thor wasn’t entirely sure how Coulson managed to find uniforms to fit them all, especially on such short notice. He wasn’t complaining though- it was really a nice jumpsuit, with plenty of room for guns and the like. Not that he really needed that; he worked best with Mjolnir.

Soon they were parked in a field, their view of the house concealed by a large bush. Coulson’s team had a makeshift van, hooked up with all their laptops and the latest SHIELD equipment. Again, it all seemed pretty standard to Thor, but the humans were happy with it.

‘We all know what we’re doing?’ 13 asked, just to make sure. They’d been briefed properly on the drive earlier, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. None of them wanted to screw this mission up.

‘We’ll go in at the same time, then split. Fitzsimmons will help us once we’re in.

‘We have maps of the house.’

‘Plus thermal-sensing scanners.’

‘It’ll be fine.’

‘So we’re good to go?’

‘We’re good to go.’

They went as quietly and sneakily as they could for a team their size, but they didn’t really need to. There weren’t any security cameras, as far as they could see. The windows were darkened. The whole place seemed very normal, and blended in perfectly. Surprisingly perfect, and very quiet.

Skye picked the lock on the door. It was one of those old sturdy English locks. Normally, it would keep people out fine, but Skye was good. Better than most. It opened with a click and she held the door open for Natasha.

‘After you,’ she smiled.

‘Thanks,’ Natasha whispered, grinning. Sure it was a 100% covert important mission, but a girl could have a little fun.

The house was silent, except for the squeaking of the floorboards beneath their feet. It was annoyingly loud. And if there was one thing Clint hated, it was poor architecture messing up his missions. Like Budapest all over again.

Soon enough, they reached a flight of stairs. With his hearing aids, Clint could just about hear a crackling voice coming from 13’s headset.

She waved her team down the stairs. ‘Fitzsimmons say this way. We’ll see you soon. Good luck.’

She followed her team down, down into the unknown. Clint watched them go, wishing he was with Natasha, before turning to catch up with Phil. He checked his watch: 6.36. If they were lucky, they could finish the mission and still catch Masterchef.

They reached the end of another corridor. Clint stopped. Footsteps. Heading their way.

They pressed themselves against the wall, breathing silently. Simmons whispered something into Coulson’s ear, but Clint couldn’t quite hear it, even with his aids.

Coulson turned to them and pointed to their left, shaking his head. Then he pointed to their right, still shaking his head.

He held his hand out, his fingers up. At first Clint was confused. But then he realised. Coulson’s fingers were counting down.

 

_**3** _

_**2** _

_**1** _

 

All hell broke loose. Swiftly, Clint withdrew a bow and fired at one of the men. It hit him perfectly, in the thigh, just avoiding the femoral artery: enough to incapacitate him without killing him. As far as Clint could see, these people were just humans, being told what to do. He tried to avoid killing people unnecessarily. Fury had called him a softie, but he ignored that. He’d seen enough death, killed enough people. Natasha understood.

In a whirl of bows and arrows, Clint saw Skye running down the corridor. One of the injured men raised his gun, pointing straight at her. Clint shot him in the shoulder, right where it would hurt most. Shooting people with their back turned was a dick move, he tutted, as he took out a couple more people. He hated enemies who were dicks.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thor and Steve taking out more men, shields and hammers swinging about everywhere. The enemies were obviously well-trained, but they were still no match for even just 50% of The Avengers. Finally there was just one guy left standing. He looked around, realising he was surrounded and raised his gun, hands shaking, but before he could shoot, Steve knocked him out with a roundhouse kick.

‘Nice,’ Clint said appreciatively.

‘Thanks,’ Steve said, dismantling the man’s gun.

‘Are you guys done in there yet?’ yelled Skye from a few rooms away. ‘A big operation and base like this, there’ll be more people. And our communications are down. Hurry it up.’

They jogged down the corridor and stopped where Skye was, outside another room.

‘It’s locked. But it’s different from the others. I can’t break it or pick it. This room is special.’

‘Security room?’

‘I think so. We should try to-‘

Her sentence was cut off by more shouts. Coulson cursed underneath his breath.

‘You guys ok to fight?’

They nodded as an affirmative. Skye took her pistol out of her bag too.

Their attackers this time were different, Thor noted. They were more orderly; better trained. Still, they could be the most highly-trained elite squad in all of Midgard- they were still pretty useless before Mjolnir.

In a blaze of fury, Thor swung the hammer round and around. Sure, he wasn’t used to fighting in such small, confined spaces, but he could manage just fine, right? He took 3 adversaries out with one mighty swing before being hit in the leg by a stray bullet. It hurt, but he gritted his teeth and dealt with it.

Thor could see that the others were in trouble too. Clint was being shot at from all directions, with just an old bulletproof vest for protection. He took a hit in the stomach and collapsed to the floor. Thor took out all of the enemies approaching his fallen friend, before turning his attention to Steve.

There weren’t that many people left, but Steve had both Coulson and Skye to protect, and his shield could only cover them for so long. Working together, they fought their way through the men, but it wasn’t enough.

‘Thor! Grab Clint!’ Steve shouted.

‘What are you planning to do?’ he yelled back.

‘Something incredibly stupid! Get him!’

Thor ran to Clint and lifted him up, before turning to Steve, who had dropped his shield. The super-soldier ran full pelt along the corridor, towards the door. The marksmen aimed their rifles at him.

Skye shouted to him, but Steve didn’t need it. He jumped up and flipped gracefully, avoiding the bullets which all hit the door, shattering the lock. Steve landed and whilst the men were all stationary with shock, Thor took his chance and struck them down. Thor ran for the door. Skye, Steve and Coulson were already in the security room and as Thor ran in behind them, he turned and slammed the door shut.

‘Whoa,’ Skye muttered, out of breath. ‘That was too close.’

Thor leant over Clint’s limp body and checked his vitals. ‘He is alive.’

‘Thank God. Skye, bandage his wound. Thor, find a way to block the door for now. Steve-‘

Phil frowned. Steve was stood motionless, staring at the computer screens. They showed footage from security cameras around the house. Steve was concentrating on one in the corner. The team paled at the image.

‘Oh, shit.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooooo  
> have u seen the aou trailer ?!? i m screaming i am so excited for this and wanda oh my gosh  
> anyway hmu on tumblr @spoopyskulduggery (halloween yo)  
> comments and kudos are always really lovely and make my day so ta to all of u guys  
> stuff is happening in the story yayy i like action. i guess a sort of part two of this chapter will be up soon i'm on holiday so i can chill  
> and thanks :3


	8. B: Um, Freeze

 

Bruce followed the rest of his team down the stairs, glancing behind him every so often. He tried to control his nerves as best he could; this was not the time to panic.

The stairs lead to another corridor. It wasn’t as modern and updated as the rest of the house. It seemed darker and dustier and somehow, less friendly.

In the quiet dark, Bruce could only hear his own breathing, their quiet footsteps and a ticking noise. He looked around, trying to find its source- there, a big grandfather clock. It was about twenty to seven and, without any lamps, it was almost completely pitch black.

A crackling came from 13’s earpiece. Fitz was whispering something indiscernible. 13 opened one of the doors to their right, and Bruce followed.

Something touched his shoulder. Bruce would’ve jumped, but he felt a reassuring squeeze. Tony was as nervous as he was; the playboy millionaire was just better at hiding it. Bruce was grateful to have him down here. Sure, he worked fine alone, but in a team he had support and help, which even he needed occasionally.

13 turned again and led them all down another set of stairs. Bruce wondered how far down this house went. From the outside, it seemed innocent enough, all patterned wallpaper and lavish furnishing, but the inside… Bruce felt incredibly uneasy. This corridor was much more modern than the upstairs, all white walls and ominous pipes. It reminded him of his old lab.

He could see a light at the bottom of the stairs though- that had to be something. Maybe everyone would be down there, maybe then they could leave.

It was still silent. Bruce was about to ask if they knew they were going when-

‘Good evening, everyone,’ a voice said. Tony and Bruce jumped. The others were surprised, but well-trained enough to remain still. Natasha looked at Bruce. _Calm down,_ her eyes said. He nodded a little, then turned his attention to the strange woman in the room. Bruce didn’t recognise her but she _was_ wearing a mask It covered her nose and mouth, but the rest of her face was visible and her eyes were smiling. Her gun was pointed straight at Tony.

‘How are we all doing?’ she asked, pretty confidently for a person with three guns aimed directly at their head.

‘Who are you? Where are the prisoners?’ May said levelly, her hands steady.

‘Don’t worry. You’ll see them soon.’

‘You’re remarkably happy for a woman so dreadfully outnumbered,’ Natasha frowned. ‘Are you the “genius” running this whole operation? Are you Morrigan? Because it’s not going so well.’

‘You’re right,’ she smiled. ‘It isn’t really.’

They stood there in a silent stand-off. Bruce could hear a faint hissing, and gunshots from the house above them.

‘That’ll be our friends kicking your people’s ass,’ Tony smirked, trying not to let the woman’s gun bother him. They still had the upper hand, right?

Bruce paused. They’d been one step ahead of Morrigan from the start. It was easy, really. Almost too easy. The way they’d found her name, her location, everything. She’d practically invited them all here, and she’d have known it wouldn’t have taken too long to find her. She’d have known they would have come immediately. She had no security, at least, none that they could see. She’d have known they could beat her- so why had she let them?

Unless…

‘A trap,’ Bruce swore. The hissing. Her mask. It all clicked. ‘Don’t shoot,’ he yelled.

‘Listen to your pet monster. The slightest spark could set this place ablaze. I do love the smell of Hydrogen Sulphide in the morning,’ she laughed. ‘Enjoy your sleep, my friends,’ she said, and the words echoed in his mind as Bruce collapsed to the floor and blacked out.

 

 

Tony woke in a cell, his hands chained to a pipe above him. He squirmed and wriggled, trying to get himself free. God, he hated being trapped.

‘Don’t bother,’ a familiar voice said. Tony turned to the person next to him.

‘Rhodey!’ he cried. ‘Good to see you.’

‘Yeah, you too. I had sort of hoped you’d be rescuing me, but…’

‘Yeah, that all fell through. What time is it?’

‘Half 7ish, I guess. You haven’t been out that long.’

‘Right. Who else is in here?’

Rhodey jerked his head to the person next to him. ‘Agent Hill. You know her, right? She was here when I arrived. Drifted in and out of consciousness. Not in a good shape. And your buddy.’

Bruce was still passed out on the other side of Maria. He didn’t look too good either. ‘What about the others?’ Tony asked.

‘Loads of SHIELD agents down the hall. Plus a couple of people got here around the same time as me. This girl, Darcy, and a dude with a metal arm. She was fighting the guards, but he was out cold. I haven't seen them again, but Darcy yells a lot, late at night. I think she likes to annoy Morrigan. I don’t blame her.’

‘You know about Morrigan?’

‘Yeah. Her second-in-command, Richards talks a lot about her. He is _so_ under her control. Practically idolises her, the bastard.’

‘Interesting,’ Tony mused. Richards could be useful. ‘Have you seen the people I came in here with?’

‘All dragged in about the same time as you. Dead to the world. Probably next to us, with Darcy and the other guy.’

‘Great,’ Tony sighed. His arms ached, his throat was sore and he had no idea what to do. He lowered his voice. ‘Is there any way to escape?’ he asked. Rhodey looked at him.

‘If there was, I’d be long gone.’

Tony nodded, his eyes scanning the walls, hoping for something, _anything_ , to help. There were two security cameras, either side of the room, watching their every move. One of them had a blinking red light.

Tony was distracted as Bruce began to cough, his eyes blinking open. He looked around wildly, taking in his surroundings. ‘That bi-‘

‘Yeah, join the club, buddy.’

‘Oh, hey Rhodey. How you doing?’

‘Good, good, you know. Just been kidnapped and taken hostage by an absolute-‘

‘Hey! No talking in there!’ a fairly average looking man walked past them, shining a flashlight at them, despite the fact that it wasn’t dark. His gun was in its holster and he was standing so close to him; if Tony wasn’t all cuffed up, he would be able to reach out and grab it.

‘Is this Richards?’ Tony asked, wondering if he could distract the guard. They had to escape.

‘How’d you know that?’ Richards asked, suspicious.

‘My old pal here was just telling me all about you. He’s wasn’t lying. You really are a whiny little bitch.’

Richards spluttered at the insult ‘I am your enemy. I have control over you. So who’s the whiny little bitch now?’

‘Still you.’

‘Tony, Tony, be nice,’ Bruce intervened before Richards shot someone.

‘I’m not good with nice. Why don’t you have _a nice conversation_ with our friend here?’

Bruce nodded, understanding. He was good at distractions. Sure, they were usually in the form of a giant green rage monster, but talking worked too. ‘So… That Morrigan’s really something, huh?’

Richards smiled. His eyes practically lit up. ‘She’s great, isn’t she? I mean, she’s witty and intelligent- this is all her plan. I did help though. And she said if she rules the world, I could have a country! She's pretty perfect.’

Rhodey pretended to vomit, but Richards didn’t notice. Tony continued to wriggle his hands through the cuffs, scraping the sides of his palms, but gritting his teeth through the pain. Darcy yelled something from the other cell, probably incredibly insulting. Richards turned to berate her and Tony took his chance and with one final pull-

He was free.

Despite his aching arms, Tony kept his hands up. He had a chance now. He couldn’t lose it.

When Richards walked back past them, Bruce got his attention. ‘Hey, I think you have a chance with her. Morrigan, I mean.’

‘Really?’ he shuffled on his feet. ‘I mean, I’m just a guy and she’s so… whoa.’

‘No, I think you could. I’ll tell you why. Come here. Closer. Closer. _Clo-'_

Tony reached his hands through the bars and grabbed the gun before Richards could do anything. There was a quick scuffle, but Tony punched him in the face and Richards squealed in pain, cupping his bleeding nose.

‘Freeze!’ Tony yelled. ‘Um, get your keys out.’

‘Don’t try anything funny,’ Rhodey warned.

‘Yes. What he said. Chuck the keys on the floor.’

‘What if I don’t?’ Richards asked, trembling despite himself. ‘What if I just run?’

‘I’ll shoot the lock. Then I’ll shoot you. Keys. Now.’

Morosely, Richards chucked them to Tony. Gun in one hand, he freed Rhodey, who freed the others and opened the door. He began to open the other cells as Tony and Bruce stood either side of Richards, blocking his escape.

‘Thank _God_ ,’ Darcy said, dusting herself off and stretching her legs. ‘That cell is _not_ comfortable.’

‘Good job,’ Natasha said, her head still foggy but otherwise fine. ‘Are we getting out of here? We can always come back for the others.’ May was checking over the unconscious bodies of Bucky and 13. They were alive, sure, but they were in no condition to fight, or even move. None of the other SHIELD agents further along the corridor seemed particularly capable either.

‘Can’t we call in backup, or something?’ Darcy asked. ‘I thought you guys were good at these things.’

‘You got a phone?’

‘I can’t let you do that,’ Richards shook his head. ‘Just give it up, go back in to your cell and I promise I won’t hurt you.’

‘For crying out loud, not _you_ again.’

‘Don’t move,’ Tony brandished the gun at him. ‘Shut up. But tell us where Morrigan is.’

‘No. _Never_.’ The guard moved faster, way faster than they’d anticipated, and hit a red button on the wall. Alarms began to blare, disrupting the silence of the house completely. Bruce cursed.

The gun went off and Richards went down with a howl, his foot bleeding profusely. But it was too late. More guards were surrounding them, their guns trained on them all. Tony glanced at Rhodey and the other freed hostages. They were way too outnumbered. Still, he held the gun steady.

‘What do we do?’ Bruce asked.

‘No idea,’ Rhodey admitted.

‘Oh, shit.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> world record for fastest update goes to me tbh. this chapter is long af too  
> in other news i am still not over that trailer and i kinda want to watch pinocchio again  
> also i am in love with scarlet witch but what sort of name is that it's like red magician just no (not as bad as her kids tho i mean come on)  
> does anyone actually read this


	9. Arguments and Avenging

‘We have to go down to help them!’ Skye argued.

‘We stay here. We couldn’t help, anyway. We barely managed before. Getting hurt or killed won’t save them.’

‘But they’re in trouble.’

‘Yeah, I noticed, thanks.’

‘Well, do something about i-‘

‘Stop squabbling,’ Steve interjected. ‘There are lives at stake.’

Thor was ignoring them and inspecting the security cameras. ‘That must be Morrigan,’ he said, pointing to a screen right in the middle. The office would seem just as old and dusty as the house appeared, if not for the gleaming computer on the desk. A woman sat at the desk, furiously typing. Thor couldn’t see the screen from the grainy image. The others looked up from their argument, but before they could look, they screens went black.

‘What happened?’ Steve asked.

‘They all stopped,’ Thor mused.

‘Or someone stopped them,’ a voice from the speakers boomed. ‘Hey there. I’m Jean Morrigan, but you can call me your doom.’

‘She’s pretty dramatic, isn’t she?’

‘I _can_ hear you,’ Morrigan said, sounding pissed off. ‘What happened to Katniss there?’

‘He got shot. By _your_ men.’

‘Sorry about that. Not part of my plan. Is he ok?’

Clint mumbled something, and tried to sit up. Skye checked his pulse and temperature again. ‘He’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern.’

‘No problem. Anyway. Let’s get down to the real reason you’re here.’

‘To stop you.’

She laughed. It seemed a bit over the top, really. Dramatised. Staged, even. ‘You’re not here to stop me. You’re here because I wanted you to be. Oh, by the way, I can see you and your faces. This is really quite funny.’

‘You knew we’d track you down,’ Steve stated, his voice full of hatred.

‘Mr. Glamour Pants gets it. Well done! Of course, I knew you’d get here. And when you did, you walked right into my trap.’

‘She sounds like she’s reading off a bad TV script,’ Skye muttered bitterly.

‘Well, consider this the season finale,’ Morrigan retorted, and although they couldn’t see her, Thor just knew she was grinning.

 

The stand-off downstairs was getting pretty boring, Richards reflected. And his foot _really_ hurt. He’d told the guards not to shoot them yet; more for fear of his own life than anything else. Sure, they could easily just shoot all of the escapees. But they had a gun to his head, and he’d already seen how quick they were. He didn’t want to test it.

The guards obeyed his orders, of course. He was Morrigan’s second-in-command, just one rank below the big boss. They wouldn’t dare disobey him for anyone, except maybe her. And she would never harm him.

Despite all her evil genius and convoluted plans to take over the world, Jean (was he allowed to call her that yet?) was actually pretty sweet. They’d been friends throughout SHIELD training. Well, they’d talked a couple of times. But that was enough. Then, after graduation, Morrigan had gone to him with her plan.

His heart swelled at the memory. She’d asked him, of all people, for help taking over the world. Of course, he’d said yes. And now here they were. Sure, there was a gun to his head. But he trusted her. She’d get him out of this.

The loudspeakers clicked on and the computer screen lit up. Despite the pain in his foot, he grinned. Her voice was like velvet, and you could practically hear her smile. And she looked _perfect_.

 ‘I want the world to burn,’ she said. Richards smiled. He’d helped write this monologue. It was their creation. It was astounding. ‘But you ‘Avengers’ insist on saving it. Every. Damn. Time. So I figured, with you out the way, there’s a clear path to world domination. I have the technology to do the rest, as long as _you_ are out of the picture.’

‘So you’re going to kill us?’ asked a voice Richards didn’t recognise. Probably another damn hero upstairs somewhere. The world was full of them nowadays.

‘No, not quite,’ she said. Richards smirked at the confused faces around him. They didn’t understand her genius- yet.

‘With all the commotion with SHIELD,’ she continued. ‘People were distracted. Security everywhere was lax. It was pretty easy to get some bombs into the country. We planted them all over. A couple of shopping malls, schools, cinemas, the remains of SHIELD headquarters. We tried the White House but couldn’t quite manage it. Still, that’s more than enough, don’t you think?’

‘She’s crazy,’ Tony stated.

‘Completely mad,’ a voice agreed.

‘She’s _brilliant_ ,’ Richards sighed.

‘So that’s it? You’re just going to kill hundreds of innocent civilians, for nothing?’ another voice asked. Richards wished he could see them. Their faces must have been priceless.

‘Of course not. I’m not stupid, remember? There’s a catch.’

This was it. The clincher. The turning point. Richards was almost laughing. This was so _exciting_.

‘There’s another bomb down in the cells.’

Richards stiffened. _No_. That wasn’t the plan, their perfectly premeditated plan. She was going off-script here. She was out of control and he was powerless. ‘Hey, you said the guards would shoot them!’ he cried. ‘ _I’m_ down here, you can’t kill _me_!’

‘Sorry, dear. Guns can miss, and anyway, I need all this evidence destroyed. Including you.’

‘But… You said… I love you!’

‘And you’ve been extremely useful. Now, dear Avengers- this is all being recorded, by the way. I want the world to watch your downfall. You have a choice. Either you save your loved ones and yourselves, or you save all those _innocent civilians._ You have five minutes, or I blow them all up. If you try to escape, I blow them all up. If you even leave your rooms-‘

‘You’ll blow them all up, we get it, you bastard.’

‘Guards, meet me outside. I’ll need you all. Not you, Richards. You’re no longer needed, or wanted. Now, talk to you soon! I should get out of here. And thank you all- it’s been a pleasure,’ the screens switched off and the sound of her laughter dimmed, as the guards footsteps faded into the distance and they were left in silence.

 

 

‘Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit,’ Tony said. ‘Steve, Thor, Clint, Agents- can you hear me?’

‘Loud and clear,’ Skye said, sounding terrified.

‘What do we do?’ 13 asked. ‘She’s not lying, is she?’

‘I don’t think so. We have to stop the bombs. It’s our only choice.’

‘We can’t, she has the controls,’ Bruce said, his head still aching as everything sunk in.

‘Tony, you’re good at this stuff. Come on, fix it.’

‘I have no idea where to start,’ Tony sighed. He scanned the room, looking for something to help. If he could find the bomb, he could defuse it. But the room was clear. Either it wasn’t here, or it was well-hidden. Tony was leaning towards the latter explanation. ‘Look, the bomb is downstairs somewhere. You guys are high enough up. You could survive it.’

‘No way,’ Clint said, his voice sounding thin.

‘Clint! Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine, ‘Tasha. We have to get out of here.’

‘We’re not leaving you to die,’ Thor said decisively.

‘We can’t,’ Steve stated.

‘You have no choice,’ Rhodey realised. ‘Your death won’t help anything. At least- At least you could track down Morrigan after this.’

Tony started laughing, slightly hysterical.

‘What?’ Rhodey asked. This wasn’t the time for humour.

‘Well, the others…’ Tony said bitterly, no humour left in his voice. ‘They can avenge us.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween !  
> i don't own these characters but i feel like they are my children so you know, there's that  
> comments and kudos are always lovely   
> ta x


	10. Are We Doing Goodbyes?

 

‘So,’ Darcy began. ‘Are- Are we doing goodbyes or…?’

No one spoke. Some were in denial; some were resigned to their fate. Bruce was pacing up and down, trying not to freak out and to think of a way to survive. The room was pretty empty- nothing useful there. And they couldn’t leave. Morrigan was insane and seemed _extremely_ trigger happy. He could try editing or looping the security cameras, but he’d need a password, something none of them had. ‘It’s been nice knowing you guys,’ he said finally.

‘No,’ Richards frowned, trying to sit up.

Darcy turned on him, exasperated. ‘Will you just shut up?! Thanks to your girlfriend, we’re all gonna die!’

‘No,’ he repeated. ‘She’s not my girlfriend. She never will be. And we are not gonna die.’

They exchanged glances. None of them trusted him at all; love is a vicious motivator. However, their options were somewhat limited.

‘You can shut the bombs down?’ May questioned.

Richards shrugged, hopping over to the computer. ‘I can try. And you can’t do it without me.’

‘You have the security camera passwords…’ Bruce realised. ‘You could loop the footage, stop her from seeing us.

‘Do it,’ Steve ordered.

‘But we don’t know if-‘

‘If they go off, he’ll die too,’ Steve stated, hiding his fear. All he wanted to do was run down there and help them. Save them all. But he didn’t dare risk it; Morrigan was clearly unstable. He had so much to lose down there, and all his hopes rested on this one guy.

‘You don’t want to die, right?’ Bruce stepped forward, helping Richards to the computer. ‘Stop them. Stop her.’

As Richards logged on, Natasha hopped up and down slightly. The room was big enough, but she felt claustrophobic. She wanted to panic and cry, but forced herself to stay calm. ‘Can I help?’ she asked.

Richards shook his head, not looking up, quickly giving the security camera a false feed. It took him under a minute. ‘What now?’

‘Can you stop the bombs from there?’

Richards shrugged, and began searching the computer files. He had helped Morrigan set everything up, from the email to security- but not the bombs. ‘I just need to find her file… It’s gotta be here somewhere.’

‘Well, they have to be launched by mobile,’ Darcy reasoned. ‘Otherwise, you know… _Boom_.’

‘Not helpful. Your point?’

‘Well, she has to access it somehow. That narrows down the programme and file-type.’

Tony looked shocked. ‘She’s right.’

‘Hey, don’t sound so surprised. I went to college.’

Richards hit a few more keys, until the computer went blank. Natasha moved closer towards it. There was a single word on the screen: **Password?**

‘Well, do you know her password?’

Richards tried their usual one and hit enter.

**Access denied. Try again.**

‘She didn’t have another one,’ Richards racked his brains, but to no avail. ‘We always worked together.’

‘Well clearly not.’

‘Not helpful. Come on, you knew her the best. What would she set as her password? What was important to her?’

Richards paused. Could it be? Sure, she’d left him to die, but maybe, just maybe…

He typed in his name and pressed enter, holding his breath. The screen loaded, and then-

**Access denied. Try again.**

‘For God’s sake! We don’t have enough time!’

‘Guys, you have to hurry!’ Steve tapped his fingers anxiously. ‘Can’t you look around the room, try to find the bomb? You have a couple of minutes.’

‘Where the hell would it be? It might not even be in the room.’

‘Well, _I_ don’t know. It’s hard to see on this one blurry little screen!’

Tony’s head spun. _One blurry little screen_ … ‘You guys can only see us through the one camera?’

‘Yes, of course. There’s only one in here.’

Richards nodded. ‘Only one on the account.’

Tony spun to face the second security cam. That little red light was still blinking…

‘Guys! Give me a hand here,’ Tony shouted, running towards it. He hopped onto a chair and pulled the device off the wall, opening the back panel. There was a little piece of paper attached to it, and some weird high-tech equipment Tony had never seen before. And if Tony was confused by a bomb, the rest of them had no chance.

‘Is there an off switch?’ Clint asked through the speakers, his voice still pretty weak.

Tony’s heart sank. ‘No.’

‘Crap,’ Darcy said, looking down, all her hopes dashed again. She wondered if she should pray. She never had before, but she’d heard it helped some people. She decided against it; she’d met too many Gods.

‘What is that bit of paper?’ Thor asked, by now walking up and down anxiously, well aware of how little time they had left.

‘Instructions for detonation,’ Bruce read aloud, frowning slightly. ‘What sort of bomb company has an _instructions_ _leaflet_?’

‘The sensible kind,’ 13 answered. ‘Come on, what does it say?’

‘I’m reading, I’m reading,’ Bruce muttered, flicking through the pages. ‘ _Thank you for your purchase, blah blah blah, use responsibly…computer programme- **Default password!**_ **’** Bruce chucked the leaflet to Richards, who caught it deftly and ran to the computer. He began typing the code in carefully- this was the third time, and he didn’t dare mess it up.

‘Will it work? Won’t she have changed it? She’s always been so… _organised_.’

‘We have under a minute.’

'Shut _up.'_

Richards hit enter, sitting on the edge of his seat, sweating with nerves. It was loading so slowly, so very slowly, painfully slowly, until-

**Start Menu.**

Richards sighed with relief. He scrolled down through the options, until he found the one button he needed: **Defuse all bombs.**

 

He clicked it and sat back in his chair, laughing and crying a little. ‘I guess she _did_ need me to help organise,’ he reasoned. ‘They’ve stopped. Her whole account,’ he clarified. ‘All of them.’

The team hardly believed him, but Darcy looked over the screen. ‘He did it,’ she said, stunned. ‘We did it.’

 Tony jumped down off the chair, looking up at the camera. The light had stopped completely. He grabbed Bruce and hugged him, ignoring the tears in their eyes. He didn’t care. They were _alive_.

The moment was interrupted by the click of loudspeakers. ‘Have you decided?’ Morrigan asked, smirking, still blissfully unaware of her failure.

‘Fuck you,’ Richards spat.

‘You wish,’ she laughed.

‘Hardly.’

‘You’re a pathetic little man.’

‘But they aren’t. You said it yourself- These are the _Earth’s mightiest heroes._ They don’t go down so easy.’

‘Don’t make me set all the bombs off. It would be such a _waste_.’

‘Nah, go on. Do it. Give it a go.’

‘I never liked you. Goodbye, Avengers,’ she tapped away on her laptop, and hit the last button with a dramatic click. They seemed slightly uneasy, just in case they had failed. But Richards remained confident.

She clicked again. Nothing happened. She tried one last time, just in case, before turning to her webcam in shock. ‘No, you didn’t- You _couldn’t_! _No_!’ she screamed, reminiscent of a toddler who had lost their candy.

Richards gazed up into the camera, loathing in his eyes. ‘You know, I could handle your rudeness. I could handle your temper. I could even handle rejection. But for the first time in my life, I have actually wanted to live. You can’t take that away from me,’ he flicked her off one last time, before turning away to the team. ‘Now how about that backup you guys were talking about?’

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you've enjoyed this! sorry for slowness i have started nanowrimo and been super busy but here it is- the penultimate chapter! the next chapter is just a lil epilogue and will hopefully be a bit lighter and quicker  
> thanks to everyone reading this and commenting and kudosing i love it and it makes me overly happy so go do that :3


	11. A Good Day For Maria Hill

 

They called in Fitzsimmons, who called the British police. At first they seemed sceptical, but as Morrigan had so kindly filmed the entire event for the internet, both audio and visual, the evidence was plentiful. Richards was happy to testify in any court, along with some other guards. The bombs themselves were extremely useful as well. They tracked Morrigan through the bomb detonator and she was apprehended just outside London.

As soon as they could, Coulson’s team had run downstairs to the rest of their friends, quickly joined by Fitzsimmons. Maria was just about conscious enough to see everything happen. Coulson hurried to help her up, checking over her injuries. She brushed him away. She was barely hurt- nothing a few weeks holiday couldn’t fix.

Clint stumbled in after the others, clutching his side and grimacing, but otherwise ok. Natasha rushed to him and hugged him gently, before examining his wound.

‘You should be more careful,’ she reprimanded.

‘So should you,’ he replied, hugging her. ‘Never do that again.’

‘Fine by me,’ she smiled.

 

Thor and Darcy strolled down the room, chatting and releasing all the other agents.

‘Did you see Jane at all?’

Thor shook his head. ‘With all this SHIELD business, I had no time. Once this is all over, I will.’

Darcy considered this briefly. ‘You should come down to see her more, you know.’

‘I know.’

‘Then why don’t you? Just leave Asgard with Sif or something and go out to the movies, get some food, _lay the hammer_. Just try not to destroy the world while you’re at it.’

Thor tilted his head. Humans were odd, but they understood more than he gave them credit for. Also, their slang was amusing. ‘Perhaps you are right,’ he nodded, clasping her shoulder. ‘Thank you.’

‘No probs.’

Once they were certain the last of the agents were out, Thor headed back down the corridor to his friends. Bruce and Tony were discussing science with Richards. Humans did like their toys, Thor reflected. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. They could learn a lot about science from him, but then, he could learn a lot about life from then. They were indeed good friends to have around.

 

Agent 13 seemed a little left out of the comradery and celebrations. Maria noticed, and walked over to her, limping a little. ‘You did well today,’ she commended.

The agent smiled wryly. ‘I nearly lost SHIELD’s greatest assets.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ve all done that before,’ Maria winked. ‘They’re fine now. We all are.’

‘Yeah, true.’ Sharon grinned, Maria smiled too. The younger agent had done well today- a promotion was probably in order. And at least, for once, Maria herself wouldn’t have to do the paperwork. Perfect.

‘Hey, Agent Coulson,’ Tony called. ‘You staying in New York for a while?’

‘Director Coulson,’ Phil corrected, smiling. ‘Maybe. But I need to get going pretty soon. SHIELD isn’t going all to plan right now.’

‘It’ll come with time. Take a break. Visit your cellist.’

Phil shook his head. ‘Maybe one day. Now, don’t you have someone to call?’

Tony swore and dialled up Pepper, who was pretty pissed off, but still grateful he was, you know, not exploded into itsy-bitsy pieces.

By now, Clint and Natasha had joined Steve in getting Bucky conscious again.

‘He’s breathing, right?’ Steve asked, stroking the hair off Bucky’s face.

‘He’s fine,’ Clint reassured. ‘I think he’s been drugged.’

‘He’s survived worse,’ Natasha pointed out.

‘We can take him to hospital. Or you can just look after him yourself.’

‘Yeah, I’ll do that,’ Steve decided. ‘I don’t want him to… Freak out again.’

‘We can come over and help,’ Nat suggested.

‘Yeah,’ Clint laughed. ‘An assassin’s double date.’

‘Deal,’ Steve smiled, lifting Bucky up with ease. Who needs a stretcher when you have a 95 year old super-soldier?

 

The Science Bros and Richards had moved on to talking about their relationships. Richards was still pretty dejected about Morrigan- it’s not every day the love of your life tries to kill you. Still, he was determined to get over it. Bruce had even suggested a couple of nice places they could go out to find girls or guys or whatever.

‘It’s a plan,’ Richards agreed, more at ease than before.

‘Cool. Oh yeah, what’s your name?’

Richards laughed. ‘I forgot about that. I’m Nate. Nate Richards.’

 

Coulson’s SHIELD team were chatting and congratulating each other; even May. They’d all been through a lot together, and the stakes had never been higher. They were a good team, Maria decided. That was Coulson’s talent, really. Putting good teams together.

And once everyone was all sorted out, the team- _the best team_ \- stood together, ready to leave that awful place.

‘Fitzsimmons are staying behind,’ Coulson said. ‘Clearing everything up.’

‘And visiting my mum.’

‘And that. Now, our planes leave in a couple of minutes. We all good to go?’

Everyone nodded in assent. The sooner they were out of this house, the better.

Maria Hill was really _done_ with all of this SHIELD drama. But now- at least for a while- the drama was done too. They were safe. They were alive. And they were something better and more important than all of that.

They were a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, it's finally the end. i'm too emotional about this fic considering it started as a vague dream a few months ago. hope you enjoyed it and please do let me know down in the comments
> 
> and i'll never be stan lee (stan lee) i don't own the characters
> 
> thanks to lee for a bit of betaing and a lot of support
> 
> and thanks to anyone who's read this far and got to the end and liked it ! ily all !
> 
> lots of love,  
> weenie
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> yes i know it's an awful nickname


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